Machine for cleaning bottles



Dec. 19, 1933- R. w. WEBSTER MACHINE FOR CLEANING BOTTLES Filed July 21 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 19, 1933. R, w WEBSTER 1,940,615

MACHINE FOR CLEANING BOTTLES Filed July 21 19:52 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VE N TOR E. W MZsZkr BY U JZIQJ cpkm ATTORNE Y5 Patented Dec. 19, 1933 OFFICE MACHINE FOR CLEANING BOTTLES Ralph Waldo Webster, Waltham Cross, England Application July 21, 1932, Serial No. 623,842, and

in Great Britain August 7, 1931 3 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for cleaning bottles in which-bottles are soaked and washed while carried on an endless bottle conveyor and has for its object to provide means for morecom- 5 pletely and efliciently rinsing the bottles. In such machines the bottles are generally submitted to a preliminary cleansing by passing them through one or more tanks containing a cleansing solution and are finally conveyed in an inverted position over a series'of vertically reciprocating rinser tubes whereby the interior of the bottles is sprayed and rinsed, the rinser tubes being sometimes employed in conjunction with brushes for cleansing the inside and outside of the bottles.

In many bottle cleaning machines the bottles and bottle holders are rotated while being sprayed, in some machines the sprayingtubes are in fixed relationship to the frame of the ma; chine-onwhich the bottle holders are mounted, and in other machines the rinser tubes are advanced'into and withdrawn from-the interior of the bottles while, being sprayed.

The presentinvention relates to a simplified mechanism whereby the bottles while inverted and held. stationary in the machine are subjected to a series of upwardly and outwardly directed jets of cleansing fluid while the rinser tubes are being advanced upwardly into the interior of the bottles, andrto a series of :downwardly and outwardly directed jets while the rinser tubes are being withdrawn from the bottles. Each rinser tube. consists of an inner and an outer tube arranged concentrically and united at their upper ends by a ferrule. The top of the ferrule is pierced by a number of orifices in communicationwith the top of the inner tube, said orifices being directed upwardlyfland some of them outwardly and upwardly. Immediately below the ferrule the outer ,tube is;pierced by a circumferential row of orifices directed downwardly and outwardly. The outward component of the .directionof said orifices is for the purpose of imparting a swirling motion of the cleansing fluid along the interior surfaces of the bottles whereby every point thereof is effectivelywashed. The bottoms of the inner tubes are rigidly but adjust- .ablyconnected to a lower fluid supply chamber,

and the bottoms of the outer tubes to an upper fluid supply chamber, so as to suit bottles of varying sizes. Means are provided to admit cleansing fluid under pressure to the lower supply chamber and the inner tubes connected thereto, and to shut off the cleansing fluid from the upper supply chamber and outer tubes connected thereto, while the rinser tubes are being advanced into the bottles and conversely while the rinser tubes Double rinser tubes are known each compris ing inner and outer tubes connected respectively to two fluidsupply chambers, and the present invention does not claim such double rinser tubes per se, but only in combination with the apparatus herein described.

But in order that the nature of the present invention may be more clearly understood and the same carried into practice reference may'now bemade to the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters relate to like parts in all thefigures and in which:-

Figure 1 isan elevation, mainly in section, of one of the double-rinser. tubes showing the connection of each tube to its respective supply chamber.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan'on the line AB Figure 1.

Figures 3 to 6 are views showing the action of the'rinser tubes on their upward and downward travel. 7 I

Figure 7 is a view, somewhat diagrammatic, at right angles to the row of rinser tubes 1', to show one method of operating the valves controlling the supply to the rinser tubes.

The construction of the rinser tubes will be apparent from Figures 1 and 2 of these drawings. Each consists of an inner tube a and an outer tube 12, arranged concentrically. The inner tube a extends downwardly 'into'its supply chamber 0 while the outerenclosing tube 1) extends only as far asthe upper chamber. 01 into which it depends as shown. i

The tubes a and b are conveniently united at their upper ends by the ferrule e, the outer tube I) being screwed or otherwise affixed to this ferrule while the inner tube a enters a bore in r the ferrule e and is swaged therein. .The, upper end of this bore f communicates with the orifices g in the ferrule e which forms a nozzle for the passage of the fluid under pressure admitted to the inner tube a from the chamber 0 and projected through the orifices g in the form of upward jets.

Immediately below the ferrule j downwardly inclined slots 11. are provided in the wall of the outer tube 1) whereby the fluid under pressure admitted to the tube 1) from the chamber 11 is projected through the slots h in the form of downwardly directed jets.

Fluid under pressure is admitted, to chamber or on the upward travel of the tubes at and" b as the tubes enter the bottle neck (Figure? a and the fluid thus admitted to tube a issues, in upwardly directed jets through the orifices 'gand; these upward jets are directed on to the interior surface and end of the bottle during the whole of the up:- ward stroke. When the tubes have reached the limit of their upward travel at which point theforce'of the jets is directed on to the bottom of the bottle (Figure 4) and commence to descend the valve controllingthe supply to chamber (2 is closed and the valve controlling the supply'tochamber d isopened (Figure 5) whereby fluid under pressure enters the outer tube b and plays in downwardly directed jets through the orifices h on to the interior of the bottle during the whole of the downward stroke of thetubes and the valve is not closed to cut off the supply tothe outer tube 1) until the tubes are withdrawing fromthe bottle (Figure 6), thus the dirt dislodged by the upward jets is effectively washed from the bottle neck.

A convenient method of operating the valves controlling the supply to the chambers c and d is shown in Figure 'l.

The weighted and pivoted lever is is attached 7 by the link m to the tube carrier n and is operated to raiseand lower the carrier through the rod adjustably secured to the eccentric rod 10 carried on the wheel q.

As the carrier-11; with the rinser tubes represented at 1 starts on its upward travel and the tubes enter the neck of the bottle s, a pawl t pivotally mounted on the carrier 1: strikes the pin 11, on the lever 22 that is pivotally mounted onthe stub pin w and connected by rod .r to thevalve y controlling the supply .to the chamber 0 (Figure 1). The lever 12 is therebyrotated and through rod r opens valve y whereby fluid under pressure passes to the tube a. When the tubes have reached the limit of their upward travel and are about to descend the adjustable striker bar 2 comes into contact with the pin 2 on lever 12 which returns the lever 12 to its original position 7 thus closing the valve y through the rod 0:. Practically simultaneously the striker bar 2 contacts with the pin 3 on lever 4 that is pivotally mounted on'the stub pin 5 and connected by red 6, to

' the valve 7 controlling the supplyto the chamber cl (Figure 1). The lever 4 is thereby rotated and through rod 6 opens valve .7 whereby fluid under pressure passes to'the outer tube 22.

When the tubes are abouttoleave the bottles the striker 8 contacts with the pin 9 on the lever 4 thereby returning the lever to its original position and closing the valve 7 through the rod 6.

It will be understood that the pawl t is mounted so as to swing freely on its pivot but on the upward travel of the carrier n downward movement of the pawl t is prevented by the stop 10 so that on striking the pin u it rotates the lever 17 while on the downward travel the pawl t on striking the pin is merely swung upwardly and does not move the leverv. This lever'o is returned to its original position as previously described by the striker bar 2 contacting with the pin 2, the bar 2 their reaching the top of its stroke and any further movement of the lever 12 is in any case prevented by the stop 11. Similarly and practically simultaneously the lever 4 is rotated to open the valve 7. by the, bar 2 striking the pin 3 and the lever 4 is returned to its normal position abutting the stop 12; by the lower end of the descending striker bar 8 striking the pin 9.

What I claim is:'--

1. In machines for cleaning bottles, a rinser member consisting of an inner and an outer tube arranged concentrically, a ferrule uniting the tops of said tubes and having upwardly directed V orifices-through the top thereofin communication with the" topof the inner tube, the outer tubehaving a row of downwardly and outwardly directed' passages immediately below said ferrule, 3

an upper and lower fluid supply chamber to which the bottoms of the outer'and inner tubes are respectively connected, means for vertically reciprocating said rinser tubes and fluid supply chambers, and means for admitting fluid under pressure to the inner tube during the upward travel of the rinser tubes and for admitting fluid under pressure to the outer tube during the downward travelof the rinser tubes.

2. m machines for cleaning bottles, a rinser member consisting ofan inner and anouter tube arranged concentrically, a ferrule uniting the tops of said tubes and having upwardly directed orifices through the top thereof in communica-- tion with the top of the inner tube, the outer tubehaving a row' of downwardly and outwardly directed passages immediately below said ferrule, an upper and a lower fluid supply chamberto which the bottoms of the outer and inner tubes are respectively connected, means for vertically reciprocating said rinser tubes and fluid supply chambers, and valve means for admitting fluid under pressure to the inner tube during the upward travel 'ofthe rinser tubes and for admitting fluid under pressure to the outer tube during the downward travel or the rinser tubes, and operat-- means operated'by, and in synchronism with, the means for reciprocating the rinser tubes for operating the valve means.

3. In machines for cleaning bottles, a rinser member including spraying means for subjecting the interior of the bottle to upwardly and upwardly and outwardly directed jets of cleaning fluid, a-second spraying means for subjecting the interior of the bottle to downwardly and outwardly directed jets of cleaning fluid, actuating means for advancing the rinser member into 'a bottle and withdrawing the rinser member from the bottle', and means for admitting fluid under pressure to the first spraying means during the movement of the rinser member into the bottle and for admitting fluid under pressure to the RALPH WALDO WEBSTER. 

